3 of Apple's closest watchers say the company has a growing problem

Three of Apple's closest watchers, blogger John Gruber, columnist Walt Mossberg, and blogger Jim Dalrymple, agree that the company has a growing problem with the software that ships on the iPhone, the iPad, and the Mac.

Mossberg, writing for The Verge, said there had been a "gradual degradation in the quality and reliability of Apple's core apps." This has occurred over the past few years, he said.

"It's almost as if the tech giant has taken its eye off the ball when it comes to these core software products," Mossberg wrote.

Gruber, who has been covering Apple on his blog, Daring Fireball, since 2002, linked to Mossberg's post and described what he called "Apple's app problem."

"The perception is now widespread that the balance between Apple's hardware and software quality has shifted in recent years," Gruber wrote. "I see a lot of people nodding their heads in agreement with Mossberg and Dalrymple's pieces today."

John Gruber and Phil Schiller, Apple's chief of marketing, on stage.John Gruber/Vimeo

Identifying issues he had with Apple's software, Gruber wrote, "Apple's hardware doesn't have little problems like this." This could, he said, be because Apple "can't issue 'hardware updates' over the air like they can with software."

In a statement provided to Mossberg, Apple said it had "dedicated software teams across multiple platforms." It added, "The effort is as strong there as it has ever been."

Apple has an internal update schedule for both iOS and OS X, with new releases coming out once a year. iOS 10, the update to the software that runs on the iPad and iPhone, is expected in June at Apple's big developer event.